The production of hydrocarbon fuels generally requires the combination of a variety of resources, both in terms of raw materials and energy. The cost and availability of these resources are always primary considerations in assessing the economics of a fuel-producing process as well as the quality and nature of the fuels thus produced.
A source of energy which has always held promise for these and other processes are geothermal and geopressurized wells. The abundance of hot pressurized gases issuing from these wells offers many opportunities for use, generally as a result of the steam content of the stream, which is used in generating electricity through steam turbines.
The economics of these wells varies with the quality of the issuing stream. The amount of noncondensables varies widely, as does the composition of the noncondensable gases and the temperature and pressure of the resource. For those resources which are high in noncondensables, steam turbines are of limited use due to the low level of condensation occurring across the turbine blades. High-pressure, carbon dioxide dominated wells present environmental problems due to the high levels of excess carbon dioxide being emitted, as well as corrosion problems due to the combined presence of heat, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Utilization of the carbon dioxide in hydrocarbon fuel synthesis requires costly hydrogen gas. Hydrogen sulfide removal reduces the efficiency further, since H.sub.2 S scrubbers generally introduce air into the system, diluting the carbon dioxide. Due to these and other factors, much of the resource potential of the typical geothermal well is wasted during its use, and many such wells are so plagued by negative economic factors that they are not useful at all. For those wells and reservoirs which can be used, special precautions and system adaptations must be made from one well to the next to achieve optimum utilization of the resource value.